New Release: Scavenger’s Mission By Liza O’Connor

Can you teach cadets new techniques if they don’t believe you know what you are talking about?

Short Answer: No. Negative people poison the well.

But in Alisha’s situation a great many cadets will die if she can’t convince them to allow some flexibility into the what their trainers have taught them. All cadets know that vertical lifts and drops are not possible, end of story.

Yet she knows a better way, if only they will listen. But only Colonel Sparks is willing to try it. The stupid general demanded she put DC on the training line. With DC’s negative presence on the line, there’s no point in trying at all.

Finally, when Sparkes removes DC and many more negative fliers, she gets a group open to a new way to fly. Now she just has to teach them in the half hour remaining.

Meet Alisha: A young woman who refuses to live the life her parents want.

In a single month, Alisha Kane has gone from a wealthy debutante to street girl to scavenger. While testing her new flying skills in the Cully Canyon, Alisha incurs a near-death crash landing. She’s “rescued” by a colonel of the SkyRyders and her life changes forever.

Meet Logan: A SkyRyder colonel in charge of a sleepy fort with little to do other than arrest the occasional scavenger.

For the first time in his life, Logan’s attracted to a young woman, only she’s probably a scavenger and he’ll have to arrest her. But first he offers her a shower and food while he checks on his crew. His videographer has captured her extraordinary flight through the Cully and her flying is astounding!

He forgoes arresting her and puts his career at risk by asking MAC to assess her skills and integrity as a potential SkyRyder. If he can get Alisha into the SkyRyders, it will be his greatest contribution to the Corps.

Meet MAC: The Artificial Intelligence that runs the SkyRyders Corps.

Upon seeing her arrival, MAC upgrades Alisha’s test. Her flying skills are not just excellent; they exceed what was previously thought possible. MAC classifies her as its top asset and soon she proves her value.

But…the SkyRyders remain a male dominated Corps where Alisha’s sense of right and wrong often clashes with her superiors. How long can a rebellious young woman survive in a regimented Corps?

Excerpt:

Colonel Sparkes joined Logan. “I see why your captain was so adamant not to have DC in the line. He’s a problem.”

“Yes, and unfortunately I’ve been ordered not to pull him,” Logan admitted.

“Mind if I intervene?” Sparkes asked.

Logan refused to answer but gave him a slight shrug. He was willing to accept Sparkes’ intervention, but he wanted to make damn sure Sparkes couldn’t claim Logan had asked him to intercede.

Sparkes wasted no time getting in DC’s face. “I’ve had enough of your mouth, Private. If you say another word, I’m pulling you from the line.”

Sparkes hadn’t stepped two feet away before he heard DC call him a ground pansy. Sparkes actually looked pleased as he turned about-face. “Report yourself to the brig, Private.”

“For what? Telling the truth? We’re wasting our fucking time here. You can’t do vertical drops without drifting. The only reason she can is that catcher of hers. But we don’t have her catcher, so this is bullshit.”

“I gave you an order, Private,” Sparkes said.

“Well, the general wants me here.”

Sparkes calmly pulled his gun and pressed it against DC’s forehead. “We are in a battle. I can pull this trigger, and it won’t even be grounds to open an inquiry.” He gave DC a smile. “I can see your little brain working, trying to figure out if I’m capable of killing you. You alone stand in the way of my flyers learning to vertically drop, and I need them to learn that skill to ensure a successful mission. I won’t lose a minute’s sleep removing the problem in my way.”

Liza O’Connor lives in Denville, NJ with her dog Jess. They hike in fabulous woods every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Having an adventurous nature, she learned to fly small Cessnas in NJ, hang-glide in New Zealand, kayak in Pennsylvania, ski in New York, scuba dive with great white sharks in Australia, dig up dinosaur bones in Montana, sky dive in Indiana, and raft a class four river in Tasmania. She’s an avid gardener, amateur photographer, and dabbler in watercolors and graphic arts. Yet through her entire life, her first love has and always will be writing novels.

OTHER BOOKS BY LIZA O’CONNOR

The Multiverse Series (Sci-Fi Soap Opera with humor, romance, and science)